If you have filed a personal injury case, you might be confused about the many terms you’ve heard and how you can get your case resolved faster. There are answers to your questions; you just have to do a little research. 

If you partner with a personal injury lawyer at Craig Swapp & Associates, we will also be more than willing to share ideas and answers with you for your particular case. 

What are the time limits on Montana personal injury lawsuits? 

Every state has different personal injury lawsuit time limits. This can also be called the statute of limitations. In Montana, the statute of limitations is three years. This means you have three years from the time of the accident or injury to bring a lawsuit to court. 

The court will more than likely refuse to hear your case if you bring it to them after three years. 

What are the fault rules in Montana? 

Montana has shared fault rules. This means you might not get all the damages you are entitled to if the other person says you are partly at fault. Even if you are less than 50 percent at fault, you will still not be able to get all the damages you’re potentially owed since Montana follows a comparative fault rule.  

For example, let’s say you are in a store and slip and fall due to a part of the floor being improperly repaired by the store. You may automatically think that the store is completely at fault. However, maybe they go back and look at security videos and find that you were on your phone and failed to see the bad part of the floor. 

They could be able to say that you are partly at fault because you should have been paying more attention. If you were assigned 20% fault, then you will lose 20% of the damages that you could have otherwise recovered in your slip-and-fall accident

Are there caps on Montana injury damages?

A cap on injury damages limits the compensation that an injured person can receive from the accident. Montana has a cap of $250,000 in medical malpractice suits but does not have a cap for other personal injury cases. This usually applies to non-economic damages only, such as pain and suffering. 

There are no caps for economic damages, as you can prove how much money you had to spend out-of-pocket for an injury after an accident. Just make sure to keep copies of all your medical records or car repairs, for example, that you had to pay after the accident. 

Hurt in Montana? Get Ahold of a Lawyer

If you are facing personal injuries in the state of Montana and have any questions or need help to get your injury claim filed, contact Craig Swapp & Associates today at 1-800-404-9000. You can also fill in the online contact form below for more information about how we can help you. 

Written By: Ryan Swapp     Legal Review By: Craig Swapp